Justice Scalia: Dead at 79

[tlim]

Obama should appoint an a candidate that people can't say no to. The longer the nomination drags on based upon the stupidity that is the GOP stunt, the worse the GOP will look.

Nominate someone and that is 10 more months of suffering if they don't want to drag it out. It will prove on a daily basis that the GOP don't want to govern but instead, just wants power.

[SweetP]

[lakersken80]

[Aeneas Hunter]

There is a more immediate issue that a lot of people in the media seem to be missing. Even if the Senate blocks a new appointee, the conservative bloc has only four votes now. Only a small number of cases break on purely ideological lines, but these are often the most highly publicized cases. The conservative bloc no longer has the power to do anything in those cases. The best they can hope for is to affirm a lower court ruling by an evenly divided court, which means that the ruling is not precedential. The same is true for the liberal bloc, of course, but they can win if they get a vote from Kennedy or Roberts (which has happened in recent years).

Ginsburg could throw everyone a lifeline by retiring, so that there are two vacancies instead of one. But if she doesn't, the GOP had best pray for the health of Clarence Thomas.

[jodeke]

Judge Lance Allan Ito for the SCOUS.
_________________
Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

[Omar Little]

The logical gop strategy is to leave the seat vacant, even through a democratic next presidency (via lack of majority or filibuster), and hope that the odds of either gins berg or Breyer leaving out weight that of the similarly aged kennedy, or the much younger thomas, thus swinging the court back to them.

In the interim, 9 of the 13 lower courts are blue, and control 13 red or purple states, while the four red circuits control 6 blue or purple states. 31 states would have similar court and government leanings. So 2/3 of states would be blue courted, and 1/3 red.

The idea of recess appointments also comes into play.

[Buck32]

The GOP could stall and hope they win in November, but then again they could also end up with a gay Muslim justice appointed by President Bernie Sanders.
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“Properly read, the bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.”
― Isaac Asimov

[Christopher C]

[kikanga]

Interesting read.
LINK

Just gonna quote the most informative part of the article.

[Omar Little]

[Wilt]

[ChickenStu]

He's been mentioned in this thread already, but Obama has to be giving serious thought about nominating Sri Srinivasan. The guy was confirmed by the Senate to the DC Court of Appeals by a 97-0 vote, and it was recent, too (2013). Literally no opposition whatsoever. I realize that a Supreme Court appointment is another step up, but the DC appointment is considered the second-highest court in the country. If he's nominated and the GOP either votes no on him or just delays the vote, perhaps it will hurt them in the general election. How much could have changed since 2013 to where the GOP would think he's no longer qualified? I know what's at stake for them, but it's also possible that independent/undecided voters will see an obstructionist play as hypocritical, given their support of him in 2013.

As best as I can tell, he was a litigator (25 times before SCOTUS, actually) before he was appointed to his current post in 2013, and his history as a litigator shows that he was involved in arguments across party lines. He was on Al Gore's legal team in 2000, for example, but he has also argued for Exxon Mobil (successfully, in a case about human rights violations in Indonesia), as well as former Enron president Jeffrey Skilling (unsuccessfully, in a financial fraud case). Unless his rulings in his current post show a sharp leaning to the left, it might make the GOP look bad to block his nomination.

Obama has a lot to consider, in terms of how he wants to play this. His biggest concern, I'm sure, is that he doesn't want to galvanize voters on the Republican side. And the GOP leadership is going to have to ask itself, if Srinivasan is indeed nominated, if it might be galvanizing Democratic voters if they block President Obama here.

[Aeneas Hunter]

Here's an analysis of likely nominees:

http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/02/how-the-politics-of-the-next-nomination-will-pay-out/

In my opinion, this guy is really overthinking the political side of the equation. Lynch would be disqualified from any case involving the federal government for the next several years. That makes her an impractical nominee.

[ribeye]

The obstructionism by the Republicans, as advertised, will be unprecedented. Again, they will show it is not about country, but party, and how they have further lost their moral compass. By depriving the SCOTUS of its last, and often deciding, member, especially in this FiveFour Court, thus possibly rendering it useless and unable to achieve its constitutional duty, we will not only lack the deciding member to complete the current SCOTUS calendar, but they will likely miss the entire next calendar from Oct-Mar.

This is the Republican version of packing the court.

Republicans just love to talk of the desires of the founders and framers, of constitutionality, but I hardly doubt the framers goal was create a system of checks and balances where one of the checks, the highest court in land, was possibly unable to reach a consensus and perform its essential duty for over a year, and likely for over twenty months.
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"A metronome keeps time by using a Ringo"

[Aeneas Hunter]

Not really. It's a political process. The GOP would be entitled to schedule a vote on every nominee, and then vote them down. The Senate has no obligation -- constitutional or otherwise -- to confirm a nominee. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just plain wrong. Do not forget Robert Bork.

The GOP controls the Senate, and it does not have to accept a liberal majority on the Supreme Court. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just plain wrong. Again, do not forget Robert Bork.

The GOP would tell you that this is about country and how they are refusing to allow the country to lose its moral compass. The GOP is under no obligation to confirm a justice who would create a majority that favors a constitutional and moral agenda that the GOP considers to be repugnant.

If you think that the Supreme Court cannot do its duty with just eight members, then you are mistaken. It is the GOP that has lost its fifth vote, not the country. Only a small number of cases each year are actually decided by 5-4 margins.

Bottom line: If it makes you feel good to be outraged, that's cool. However, this is all about politics, just as it has always been. Historically, about one in five Supreme Court nominees have been denied confirmation. The Senate is not a rubber stamp.

[Wilt]

If there has to be outrage, it should be directed at the millions of liberals who don't show up to vote in midterm elections, which has allowed the GOP to control the Senate and win seats even in otherwise "blue" states.
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¡Hala Madrid!

[ribeye]

[Aeneas Hunter]

[ribeye]

[jodeke]

Supreme Court Short List? Deep bench of potential nominees to succeed Scalia

LINK
_________________
Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

[Aeneas Hunter]

[ribeye]

[Aeneas Hunter]

A new justice is a member of the court from the moment of confirmation. If the justice was not confirmed at the time of oral argument, and if the new justice's vote would make a difference, it is customary to reargue the case. However, I don't believe that this is actually required. Oral argument is mostly ceremonial anyway.

[jodeke]

I don't remember most of Scalia's writings. I'll always remember him causing the freedom of Rubin Hurricane Jackson.
_________________
Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

[Omar Little]